WHILE the Barnett government deliberates over its waste policy, Phoenix Energy and local company New Energy are pushing ahead with plans to invest close to $1 billion in waste-to-energy plants in the state.
These new-generation waste treatment plants burn refuse at very high temperatures, converting it into a gas, which can then be used to heat water and make steam to drive a generator.
Some in the waste industry fear the technology will struggle to garner community support, but New Energy believes the carbon tax will go some way to shifting attitudes.
New Energy chair Enzo Gullotti said there was already significant investor interest in the group’s Port Hedland and Rockingham plants, which will cost as much as $400 million to develop.
“We have had approaches from a couple of potential project investors, I can’t put names out in the market because we have signed confidentiality agreements … they are international players with a local presence,” Mr Gullotti said.
“And we have put on a business development manager on the east coast.
“We are at a very early stage, but when you get them coming to talk to you it’s always better than when you need to go looking for them.”
New Energy has already submitted preliminary applications to the Environmental Protection Authority for its two projects and has started design, engineering and architectural work.
Like New Energy, Phoenix Energy is optimistic the introduction of a carbon tax will not only benefit its business, but bolster interest in alternative waste treatment.
Phoenix said the discussion sparked by climate change, the rising cost of landfill, as well as the carbon tax had played an important role in promoting the value of alternative waste treatment, particularly among state governments.
Two years ago, when Phoenix managing director Peter Dyson first met with state governments around Australia to discuss the technology, there was very little interest and none of the state governments had specific waste policies.
“Now the interest from the state government sector has peaked because they all have landfill targets looming,” Mr Dyson said.
Phoenix unveiled plans for a $400 million waste-to-energy plant for Kwinana in April and, having completed the first-stage engineering and environmental assessments, he said the data showed the project was financially viable.
The next focus for Phoenix will be talking with councils and private waste operators to secure the waste stream; it then needs to strike off-take agreements with energy users on the Kwinana industrial strip.
But perhaps the biggest challenge for these new generation plants is yet to come – securing community support, because despite its sustainable credentials incinerating waste at high temperatures is still viewed with some suspicion in the community.
Mr Dyson said waste-to-energy plants were considered carbon sinks and that, in his experience, Western Australians took a practical approach to new technology.
“If it makes sense to them and they can see it’s been done overseas they are more likely to just do it,” Mr Dyson told WA Business News.
Ron Norris chairs the Forum of Regional Councils, a peak body for the state’s regional councils, which are groups of local councils that work together to manage their waste disposal and treatment.
Mr Norris fears the waste-to-energy proponents will have to work hard to win regulatory and community support for their technology.
“Waste to energy is on the nose environmentally and I’m not saying it’s a bad process but there is a public perception that it’s environmentally unacceptable,” Mr Norris said.
“And getting it past the EPA … not only will it be difficult, it will be long and there will be a huge amount of public consultation.”